Don Michele Angelo Cajetani, Prince of Téano: (1804-82), Roman man of letters married to a relative of Madame Hanska.
three Schlegels: Johann Schlegel (1719-49), German playwright and critic, had two more celebrated nephews, August Wilhelm (1767-1845), scholar, critic, translator of Shakespeare, Orientalist, and poet, and Friedrich (1772-1829), writer, critic, originator of many of the ideas of the early German Romantic movement and of comparative philology.
Porcia, San Severino, Pareto, di Negro, and Belgiojoso: Italians to whom Balzac had dedicated others of his works.
Homo duplex: Latin for ‘man is twofold’.
Buffon: (1707-88), French naturalist.
res duplex: Latin for ‘everything is twofold’.
Diderot: (1713-84), French thinker and writer. This is not fiction is one of his short stories.
Louis XVIII’s ordinance: Louis XVIII’s charter of 1814 provided for two-chamber government in France.
Poor Relations: this dedication was intended for the two novels, Cousin Bette and Cousin Pons, both dealing with poor relations.
milord: four-wheeled, two-seater carriages.
National Guard: a form of citizen militia first established in 1789. In 1831 it was reorganized as a force for the defence of the constitutional monarchy, with a greater proportion of prosperous upper middle-class members.
Legion of Honour: a non-hereditary order, instituted by Napoleon as a reward for military and civilian services.
1809 campaign: the campaign by the Napoleonic army against Austria which ended in the defeat of the Austrians at Wagram.
Intendant-General of the armies in Spain: Spain having become virtually a French satellite, a joint Franco-Spanish army invaded Portugal in 1807 in order to extend control over the whole peninsula.
Restoration: the period from the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, comprising the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, who had to abdicate after the 1830 Revolution, is known as the Restoration. The short period in 1815 known as the ‘Hundred Days’, during which Napoleon returned to France before his defeat at Waterloo, is of course excluded.
Tartuffe: the main character in Molière’s play Tartuffe, a religious hypocrite who worms his way into the home of Orgon and there tries to seduce Orgon’s wife Elmire.
Poitiers or Coutances: French provincial towns, one in the centre west of the country, the other in the Cherbourg peninsula.
Empire clock: a clock dating from the days of the Napoleonic Empire, which ended in 1815.
Chamber: the Chamber of Deputies, the French equivalent of the British House of Commons. A deputy is the equivalent of a British MP.
Paris prefecture: the Paris administration.
Regency: Louis XV succeeded to the French throne in 1715, when he was a child of 5. The period from 1715 to 1723, when Philip of Orleans was Regent, had a reputation for dissolute living and lax moral standards.
César Birotteau: the main character in Balzac’s novel of that name.
Duprez: (1806-96), a famous tenor of the period.
Mademoiselle de Romans: it was said that Louis XV had young girls abducted and brought up especially to provide for his pleasures. Mademoiselle Romans (the ‘de’ is an invention of Balzac’s) was one of these girls.
Saint-Simonism: a system of social philosophy inaugurated by the Comte de Saint-Simon (1760-1825) and continued after his death by his disciples. Female emancipation and community of property were amongst their ideas, but there was confusion between their theories on these two matters.
Madame Schontz, Malaga, and Carabine: courtesans who appear in many Balzac novels.
Golden Calf: the story of the Golden Calf is told in Exodus 32
Kellers: rich bankers in Balzac’s novels.
Marquis d’Esgrignon: the main character in Balzac’s novel Le Cabinet des antiques, he also appears elsewhere in Balzac’s works as a young society aristocrat.
Duc d’Hérouville: a wealthy aristocrat, of dwarf-like stature, who appears in several of Balzac’s novels.
the thirteenth district: at that time Paris had only twelve districts. To say that a couple is in the thirteenth district is a way of saying that they are living together without being legally married.
our King: Louis-Philippe, who succeeded to the French throne after the 1830 Revolution, when Charles X was forced to abdicate, was of a younger branch of the Bourbons and liked to be called King of the French rather than King of France. The ‘Our’ has satirical overtones, for it suggests that Louis-Philippe, who had a ‘bourgeois’ rather than aristocratic life-style, was very much the king of the ‘nouveaux riches’, vulgar upstarts like Crevel.
La Reine des Roses: the name of César Birotteau’s shop in Balzac’s novel of that name.
Republic: the French monarchy was abolished in 1792, when a Republic was declared. The Republic continued and extended the war which had already broken out between France and Austria; in January 1793 it staked a claim to a frontier on the Rhine, and by March 1793 the French Republic was at war with all Europe except Switzerland and Scandinvia.
Madame du Barry: (1746-93), mistress of Louis XV, natural daughter of a poor woman of Vaucouleurs. Thanks to her wit, charm, and beauty, she became the King’s official mistress and her influence over him was absolute until his death.
Madame Tallien: (1773-1835), leader of the social life of Paris after her marriage to the revolutionary Tallien in 1794.
Bronzino: name given to the Florentine painter Angelo Allori (1502-72). His portrait of Bianca Capello is in the Uffizi gallery in Florence.
Jean Goujon: (1520–66), distinguished French sculptor.
Diane de Poitiers: (1499-1566), mistress of Henry II of France. Goujon’s sculpture, Venus coming out of her bath, is in the Louvre.
Signora Olympia: Olympia Pamphili, whose portrait is in the Doria-Pamphili gallery in Rome.
Ninon: Ninon de Lenclos (1615-1705), French courtesan, who became a leader of fashion in Paris and the friend of many distinguished men.
Mademoiselle George: stage-name of Marguerite-Joséphine Weimer (1787-1867), famous for her acting, beauty, and temper.
Madame Récamier: (1777-1849), a woman of great beauty, charm and tact, who inspired many passions. During the Napoleonic period and the Restoration, the most eminent figures in politics and literature met in her salon.
d’Orsay, Forbin, and Ouvrard: Comte Alfred d’Orsay (1801-52), was famous in London as well as in Paris, gifted with exceptional good looks, a charming manner, brilliant wit, and artistic ability. Comte de Forbin (1777-1841), a painter and archaeologist as well as a handsome man, was director of the Royal museums and galleries during the Restoration. Gabriel-Julien Ouvrard (1770-1846) was better known for his banking skills than for his good looks.
Directory: from 1795-1799 France was ruled by a ‘Directorate’ of five. It was a period of reaction against the austerity of the Reign of Terror.
the Feltre ministry: the Duc de Feltre was Minister of War during the Restoration till 1817.
Spanish war: in 1823 a French army was sent to Spain to assist the Spanish king in the civil war which had begun there in 1820. French intervention re-established the Spanish king on his throne.
1830: cf. note to our King on p. 19.
younger branch: i.e. Louis-Philippe.
prima donna assoluta: absolute first lady.
exploits in 1799 and 1800: these are recounted in Balzac’s novel Les Chouans.
Pactolus: a river in Lydia whose golden sands became proverbial. Lydia was the gold country of the ancient world of the Greeks.
Ninon: cf. note to p. 27.
Fontainebleau: Napoleon abdicated at Fontainebleau in 1814.
1815: Napoleon returned to France from Elba in 1815 and for a ‘Hundred Days’ was again master of the country till his final defeat at Waterloo.
Ninon: cf. note to p. 27.
Richelieu: Armand du Plessis, Cardinal de Richelieu (1585-1642), chief minister of Louis XIII.
Calabrian-like: Calabria is a district of S. Italy.
Giotto: (1266-1337), the most important Italian painter of his time.
Grand-Duke Constantine: at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Poland was divided between Prussia, Austria, and Russia. The Russian Emperor, Alexander, granted the Poles a constitution which declared the kingdom of Poland, to be united to Russia in the person of the Tsar, as a separate political entity. The head of the kingdom was to be a lieutenant of the Emperor and had to be a member of the Imperial house or a Pole. In 1826 the Grand-Duke Constantine, the Emperor’s brother, became the Imperial lieutenant.
the defeat: in 1830-1 a military revolt took place in Warsaw, the Poles being defeated by the Russians. The kingdom was then reduced to the position of a Russian province.
Ô Matilda: an aria from Rossini’s opera William Tell.
Livonia: a Baltic province ceded by Poland to Sweden in 1660 and then by Sweden to Russia in 1721. There seems to be some confusion here for both Steinbock and Bette (and for Balzac too) between a Pole and a Livonian. But for the Grand-Duke Constantine a Livonian was a Russian, and that could explain the favour shown to Steinbock by the Grand-Duke.
Charles XII: (1682-1718), King of Sweden, celebrated for his military victories, particularly over the Russians at Narva (1700), though he was defeated by the Russians at Poltava 1709)-
1812 campaign: Napoleon’s campaign against Russia.
placed him in a school: cf. note to Livonia on p. 44.
Benvenuto Cellini: (1500-71), Italian metal-worker and sculptor.
Mademoiselle de Fauveau: (1803-60), French sculptress of some renown in her day.
Wagner: either Martin Wagner (1777-1858), painter, engraver, and sculptor, who lived in Paris in 1803, or Friedrich Wagner (1803-76), a less well-known engraver but one who spent his whole working life in Paris.
Jeanest: either Louis-François, sculptor, who worked mainly in industry, or his son Émile (1813-57), who did his best work in England, where he settled in 1845 or 1846.
Froment: François-Désiré Froment (1802-55), celebrated goldsmith.
Meurice: goldsmith, stepfather of F.-D. Froment.
Liénard: Michel-Joseph-Napoléon or Paul, wood-carver, who did some work for Balzac’s house in the Rue Fortunée.
Donatello: (1408-66), Italian sculptor. His equestrian statue of Gattamelata in Padua included the first horse to be cast in bronze.
Brunelleschi: (1377-1446), Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and architect. His great work was the building of the dome of the cathedral at Florence.
Ghiberti: (1378-1455), Italian sculptor, creator of the bronze gates of the baptistry at Florence.
Jean de Bologne: Giovanni da Bologna (1529-1608), an important sculptor whose work was more generally admired for three centuries than that of any sculptor except Michelangelo.
Brillat-Savarin: (1755-1826), French lawyer, politician, and writer, author of a celebrated work on gastronomy.
Robert le Diable: opera by Meyerbeer, first performed in 1831.
1830 Revolution: the Revolution which deposed Charles X and brought Louis-Philippe to the French throne; cf. note to p. 19.
Forzheim (or Pforzheim): W. German town where Marshal Hulot’s military achievement won him his title.
Henri III and his favourites: Henri III (1551-89), King of France from 1574, bestowed favours on a small group of handsome young men, known as his mignons.
Marguerite’s lovers: Marguerite de Valois (1553—1615), sister of Henri III and queen consort of the King of Navarre who became Henri IV of France; well-known for her licentiousness as well as for her Mémoires. Her role in conspiracies during the French wars of religion cost the life of her lover, the Seigneur de la Mole, in 1574.
the legitimist newspaper: La Gazette de France had its office at 12 Rue du Doyenné. Its circulation declined from an average of 11,000 in 1831 to 3,300 in 1845.
Cambacérès: (1753-1824), one of the three consuls who ruled France after the coup d’état of 18 brumaire (9 Nov. 1799, which overthrew the Revolutionary government. In 1804 he was made arch-chancellor of the Napoleonic empire and exercised extended powers during Napoleon’s absences.
Medusa’s head: in Greek mythology, one of the three gorgons, monsters whose heads were covered with crawling serpents instead of hair, and who could turn into stone anyone who looked at them. Medusa, the only mortal among them, was killed by Perseus, who cut off her head while looking at her reflection in a mirror.
Algiers: the French conquered Algeria in 1830. But in 1839 Algerian armed resistance under the Arab chief Abd-el-Kader led to war with the French which lasted till his defeat and capture in 1847.
Pilastre du Rosier: (1756-85), French physicist and aeronaut.
Beaujon: (1708-86), French financier, whose name was given to a district of Paris.
Marcel: dancing-master of Louis XV.
Molé: (1734-1802), eighteenth-century actor.
Sophie Arnould: (1744-1803), celebrated opera-singer.
Franklin: Benjamin Franklin (1706-90), American statesman and scientist, who negotiated the alliance between America and France in 1766 and was then appointed plenipotentiary in Paris.
Kosciusko: (1746-1817), Polish patriot, who led the Polish rising against Russia in 1794. He is reputed to have said Finis Poloniae (’It’s the end of Poland’) when defending Warsaw against the Russian advance in October 1794.
Charles XII: cf. note to p. 44.
the Emperor: the Tsar of Russia, Nicholas I 1796—1855), who succeeded Alexander I in 1825.
Clichy: debtors’ prison in the Rue de Clichy.
Chaumière: public dance-hall in the Boulevard du Montparnasse.
Notre-Dame-de-Lorette quarter: district inhabited by girls of easy virtue, called ‘lorettes’ after the name of the local church.
patchouli: a penetrating perfume.
Pompadour: Madame de Pompadour (1721-64), mistress of Louis XV for many years, was a great patron of literature and art.
Greuze: (1725-1805), celebrated genre and portrait painter, whose works have a charming sentimentality.
Watteau: (1684-1721), famous genre painter, especially of shepherds and shepherdesses in the fashionable costumes of the period (fêtes galantes).
Van Dyck: (1599-1641), celebrated Flemish artist, who painted many portraits of European aristocracy as well as religious and mythological subjects.
Ruysdaël: (1602-70), Dutch painter best known for his landscapes.
Guaspre: name given to the landscape painter of Italian origin, Gaspard Dughet (1613-75).
Rembrandt: (1606-69), the most influential and creative Dutch artist of the 17th century.
Holbein: (1497-1543), German painter renowned for the realism of his portraits, particularly those recording the court of Henry VIII of England.
Murillo: (1618-82), popular Spanish religious artist.
Titian: (1489-1576), painter of the Venetian school regarded as one of the greatest Renaissance artists.
Teniers: (1610-90), Flemish painter known for his genre scenes of peasant life.
Metzus: (1466-1530), Flemish painter known as the Antwerp-Blacksmith.
Van Huysum: (1682-1749), leading Dutch painter of still-life arrangements of flowers or fruits.
Abraham Mignon: (1640-79), German painter remembered primarily for his still lifes.
d’Esgrignon, Rastignac, Maxime, Lenoncourt, Verneuil, Laginski, Rochefide, La Palférine: aristocratic members of high society who appear in other Balzac stories.
Nucingen and du Tillet: two successful bankers who appear in other Balzac stories.
Antonia, Malaga, Carabine, and Madame Schontz: courtesans who appear in other Balzac stories.
They call you Hulot! I know you no more!: parody of a well-known line from Corneille’s tragedy Horace, ‘Alba has appointed you, I know you no more!’ (11. iii. 502).
Monsieur Sauce: one of those responsible for stopping Louis XVI at Varennes when he tried to escape from Paris in 1791. Louis XVI was executed in 1793. In 1795 Napoleon, then a successful young general, used firearms to suppress a rising in Paris, leaving two to three hundred killed or wounded.
Chevaliers Bayard: Pierre du Terrail, Chevalier de Bayard (1473-1524), a famous French captain who distinguished himself by his bravery in the Italian wars of Charles VIII, Louis XII, and François I.
Prince Eugène: Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), Austrian general, considered to be the greatest military strategist of his time.
there’s more behind this than you think: quotation from Racine’s tragedy Phèdre (1. iii. 269).
the Princes: the sons of Louis-Philippe.
Prince Royal: the eldest son of Louis-Philippe.
Canova: (1757-1822), Italian sculptor. His works were extremely lifelike and recalled the spirit and style of ancient Greece.
Terborch: (1617-81), Dutch painter, particularly skilful in his rendering of texture in draperies.
Rocher de Cancale: fashionable Parisian restaurant where many dinner parties take place in Balzac novels.
Saint Teresa: (1515-82), Spanish nun and saint, whose intense piety led her to plan a reform of the Carmelite order to which she belonged and to secure the foundation of many reformed Carmelite convents.
in a shower of gold: in Greek mythology, Danaë, daughter of Acrisius, King of Argos, was shut up in a tower by her father, since an oracle had foretold that he would meet his death at the hands of a son born of Danaë. Jupiter visited her in a shower of gold, and a son Perseus was born. He accidentally killed Acrisius with a quoit.
all along the river: quotation from a popular nursery song.
Monsieur de Turenne: (1611-75), celebrated military commander of Louis XIV. His successes were largely due to his thoughtfulness and calculation.
Sèvres: French town near Paris, celebrated for its porcelain ware.
Wagram: Austrian village near Vienna, where Napoleon won a famous victory in 1809.
Sain and Augustin: Sain (1778-1847) was a pupil of Augustin (1759-1832), a leading miniature painter at the time of the Restoration. Sain painted miniatures of Napoleon and Josephine as well as of Charles X.
picador: a man whose task it was to arouse the bull to anger before a bullfight.
Pythoness: in ancient Greece the oracle at Delphi spoke through the mouth of a priestess, called a pythoness. After a three-day fast, the pythoness chewed laurel leaves, and in a state of exaltation, sat on a tripod above an opening giving forth noxious vapours. Her whole body then shuddered, her hair stood on end, and foaming at the mouth she answered the questions she had been asked.
Charenton: lunatic asylum near Paris.
the earthenware pot against the iron pot: reference to a fable by La Fontaine (1621-95), whose moral is that one should associate only with one’s equals.
1830: cf. note to p. 19.
1793: date of the execution of Louis XVI and the abolition of the monarchy.
an lago and a Richard III: that is to say, a character as jealous and scheming as lago in Shakespeare’s Othello and as Richard III in his play of that name.
magna parens rerum: these Latin words mean the ‘great mother of things’, not the ‘mother of great things’.
Mohican: Fenimore Cooper’s novel about N. American Indians, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), had become very popular in Paris.
Saint-Denis quarter: commercial quarter of Paris.
César Birotteau’s fortunate successor: a reference to Balzac’s novel César Birotteau. From being an employee in César Birotteau’s perfumery shop, Crevel rose to being its proprietor. Cf. note to p. 11.,
Exhibition of manufactured goods: Balzac may be referring here either to an exhibition of 1825 or to one of 1834.
Pierre Grassou: the story of Pierre Grassou is told in Balzac’s short story of that name.
Canova: cf. note to p. 98.
Boule: Parisian cabinet-maker and wood-carver (1642-1732), whose works were highly valued.
unfortunate predecessor: i.e. César Birotteau, whose career ended in bankruptcy. Cf. notes to pp. 11 and 121.
Chevet: fashionable Parisian caterer.
Zaïre … Orosmane: in Voltaire’s tragedy Zaïre, Zaïre, a Christian princess, a prisoner of the Turks, is loved by Orosmane, a Muslim prince who wants to marry her, and is thus typical of an enslaved beloved.
Regency: cf. note to p. 11.
Pompadour: cf. note to p. 81.
Maréchal de Richelieu: (1696-1788), great nephew of the cardinal (cf. note to p. 38), distinguished French nobleman and courtier, renowned for his wit and immorality.
Déjazet: (1797-1875), well-known actress of the time, famous for her liveliness, wit, and private life as well as for her acting talent.
Hagar: Egyptian slave who, in the Bible, becomes the concubine of Abraham (Genesis 16).
deer-park: the house at Versailles where Louis XV kept girls in a kind of harem; so called because it stood in a district, long since built over, used by Louis XIII as a sort of deer-farm.
Dulcinea: the ‘ideal-lady’ worshipped by Don Quixote in Cervantes’ famous tale of that name. She was in reality an ordinary peasant girl, but Don Quixote saw her as a model of physical and moral perfection. The name is used, slightly ironically, to mean the girl of a young man’s dreams.
one of the cleverest wits of the last century: the Prince de Ligne (1735-1814).
Bellegarde: Gabrielle d’Estrées, Henri IV’s mistress, had the Duc de Bellegarde as her lover.
Agnes: in Molière’s play, L’École des femmes, Agnès is a young girl brought up in total ignorance, who yet manages to outwit her middle-aged guardian and would-be husband.
a line of French verse: Nucingen is here misquoting a line from Racine’s tragedy Bérénice (III. iv. 945).
Danaë: cf. note to p. 106.
let us be friends, Cinna!: quotation from Corneille’s play Cinna (v. iii. 1701).
Fabert: (1599-1662), a distinguished soldier who became a marshal of France, but, unlike Napoleon, did not become an emperor.
Correggio: (1494-1534) famous Italian painter, rival of Raphael.
Laïs: celebrated Greek courtesan of the 4th century BC.
Sophie Arnould: (1744-1803), celebrated opera-singer, also renowned for her witty remarks of which a collection was published in 1813.
Madame de la Baudraye the main character of Balzac’s novel La Muse du Département.
Louis XV’s first surgeon: Louis XV having remarked to his first surgeon, La Martinière, ‘I see I’m no longer young, I must slow down’, the doctor is said to have replied, ‘Sire, your Majesty would do better to remove his harness’, i.e. give up his licentious ways altogether.
Holy Alliance: alliance formed in 1815, after the fall of Napoleon, between Russia, Austria, and Prussia. The rulers of these countries ostensibly bound themselves to let their conduct towards their own peoples, and their relations with others, be animated solely by a spirit of mutual helpfulness and Christian fraternity, according to the precepts of Holy Scripture. The alliance had dissolved by 1825.
Tantalus: in classical mythology, a king condemned by Jupiter to perpetual hunger and thirst. He is often represented as standing in the middle of a river whose waters retreat from his lips whenever he wants to drink, and under trees whose branches escape his grasp whenever he wants to pick their fruit.
Louis XII: (1462-1515), 52 when he married Henry VIII’s sister, aged 16. Louis was by then in poor health and died three months later.
bandoline: a viscous, scented hair lotion, used to make the hair look glossy.
this bloodstained Nun: a reference to a terrifying, debauched nun in the English horror novel The Monk by M. G. Lewis (1775-1818).
Cranach: (1472-15 53), eminent German painter.
Van Eyck: either Hubert (1365-1426) or his brother Jan (c. 13 80-1440), the most distinguished Flemish painters of their period.
Isis: goddess of ancient Egypt.
Montyon prize: prize founded by the Baron de Montyon (1733-1820) in 1782 for works of moral value and for acts of virtue, to be awarded by the French Academy.
the shopping-basket handle: reference to a proverbial French phrase, to make the shopping-basket handle dance, meaning to make a bit on the side, referring to servants.
Jacob Desmalters: Roman-style furniture and Egyptian-style ornaments (following Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign) were popularized by Jacob Desmalters (1770-1840) to form the Empire style.
Robert Lefebvre: (1756-1830), the most sought-after portrait painter of the Napoleonic period. Amongst many portraits of eminent people, he painted those of Napoleon, his two wives, and his mother and sister. A portrait by Lefebvre was a sign of success under the Empire and so, in Madame Hulot’s drawing-room, is an indication of past glory.
Junot’s campaign in Portugal: Napoleon appointed General Junot commander of the campaign against Portugal in 1807. He conquered the country in less than two months but was beaten by the Duke of Wellington’s forces and had to leave the country in 1808.
conquerors of Brazil: the Portuguese conquest of Brazil was completed in 1594. If Montes is the great-grandson of one of the conquerors, his forebears must have been exceptionally long-lived!
the siege of Mantua: in 1796 Bonaparte had to subdue the garrison of Mantua, to which he was laying siege, and to deal at the same time with the Austrian army which had taken refuge there. The capture of the town marked the end of his Italian campaign.
Murat: (1767-1815), distinguished Napoleonic general, renowned for his courage, husband of Napoleon’s sister Caroline, King of Naples from 1808 to 1814.
Mirabeau: (1749-91), the most distinguished orator of the French Revolution.
Saint-Preux: a main character in Rousseau’s novel La Nouvelle Héloïse (1761). He falls deeply in love with his pupil, Julie d’Étanges, and she reciprocates his passion.
the silver drug: the two metals to be won by cultivating the god of commerce are presumably gold and silver. The god of commerce is Mercury and mercury is another name for quicksilver, which was used as a drug in the treatment of venereal disease. Crevel’s elaborate pun is thus a way of saying that Marneffe has a venereal disease.
Regency: cf. note to p. 11
Pompadour: cf. note to p. 81.
Maréchal de Richelieu: cf. note to p. 124.
Les Liaisons dangereuses: celebrated novel (1782) by Choderlos de Laclos, whose hero is a cynical and unscrupulous seducer of women.
nothing imaginary in your title: a reference to Molière’s play Sganarelle ou le Cocu imaginaire.
Canillac: the Marquis de Canillac (1674-1765) was the close friend and companion of the Regent in his licentious pleasures.
Silenus: in Greek mythology, the companion of Dionysus, god of wine; often represented as an oldish man with shaggy hair and beard.
Gubetta: spy and accomplice of Lucretia Borgia in Victor Hugo’s play Lucrèce Borgia.
Arnal: (1794-1872), popular comic actor of the day.
a cousin from America…: expression often used to describe a relative who returns from abroad with a fortune and rescues his family from poverty.
Curtius: in 362 BC the earth in the forum at Rome gave way. Soothsayers predicted that the resultant chasm could only be filled up by throwing into it Rome’s greatest treasure. Marcus Curtius, a patrician youth, mounted his horse in full armour and leaped into the abyss, which then closed over him.
Murat: cf. note to p. 187.
Leo X: Pope from 1513 to 1521, was a great patron of the arts.
Phidias: (c.490-432 BC), great sculptor of ancient Greece.
Prometheus’ sin: in classical mythology, Prometheus formed a man out of mud and, to give him life, stole fire from heaven.
Figaro: character in Beaumarchais’s plays, The Barber of Seville (1775) and The Marriage of Figaro (1784).
Lovelace: character in Richardson’s novel Clarissa (1749).
Manon Lescaut: character in the Abbé Prévost’s novel Manon Lescaut (1731).
Polymnia: Greek statue of the Muse of lyric poetry, in the Louvre.
Julia: Roman statue representing the goddess Juno, but with the form and features of Julia, daughter of the Roman emperor Augustus.
Paganini: (1784-1840), celebrated Italian violinist, remarkable for his technical brilliance.
Telemachus: in Fénélon’s didactic romance Télémaque (1699), Telemachus, son of Ulysses, sets out in search of his father. He is shipwrecked on the island where his father had been detained by Calypso, who exerts her charms on Telemachus to console herself for Ulysses’ departure.
Austerlitzes: Napoleon won one of his greatest victories over the Russians and Austrians at Austerlitz (1805).
Madame de Maintenon: (1635-1719), from 1674 the mistress of Louis XIV and secretly married to him after the death of his queen, Marie-Thérèse. She was a modest, discreet, intelligent woman, capable of great self-control and inclined to piety.
Ninon: cf. note to p. 27.
Carabossa: the bad fairy of fairy tales who turns up at christenings with an evil gift.
Louis XI: (1423-83), crafty and unscrupulous French King, who succeeded in dominating the feudal lords and increasing the power of the monarchy.
Iris and Chloë: minor Greek goddesses, whose names are often used for shepherdesses in pastoral poetry.
Manon: the fickle heroine of the Abbé Prévost’s novel Manon Lescaut; cf. note to p. 223.
Célimène: the society coquette in Molière’s play Le Misanthrope (1666).
Samson … Delilah: the story of Samson and Delilah is told in Judges 14.
Omphale: in Greek mythology, Hercules fell in love with Omphale, ruler of Lydia. To please her, he is said to have spun wool and put on a woman’s clothes, while Omphale wore his lion’s skin.
Spinoza: (1632-77), Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Jewish parentage, excommunicated for his unorthodox views.
Marius: (157-85 BC), Roman general. After many victories and great popularity, he clashed with his rival Sulla, was obliged to flee along the coast of Latium and was taken prisoner near Minturnae, whose inhabitants put him on a ship which landed him at Carthage in N. Africa. The Roman governor, however, sent an officer to bid him leave the country. Marius’ only reply was, ‘Tell the praetor that you have seen C. Marius a fugitive, sitting among the ruins of Carthage’.
Judith: heroine in Judith, a book of the Apocrypha. She cut off the head of Holofernes in order to save her people.
Camille Maupin: a character in Balzac’s novel Béatrix and in other stories of the Comédie humaine. She is an exceptional woman, being a successful writer as well as a leader of society.
Phèdre’s declaration to Hippolyte: In Racine’s play Phèdre (1677), Phèdre makes an impassioned declaration of love to her stepson Hippolyte.
Pythoness: cf. note to p. 109.
Rocher de Cancale: cf. note to p. 103.
Benvenuto Cellini: cf. note to p. 45.
fructus belli: Latin expression meaning ‘the fruits of war’.
augurs: in ancient Rome the augurs were priests who foretold the future from the flight or song of birds, the appetite of sacred chickens, and the like. But faith in these superstitious predictions did not last and Cicero thought that two augurs could not look each other in the face without laughing.
Madame de Merteuil: the partner in corruption of the cynical and unscrupulous hero in Choderlos de Laclos’s novel Les Liaisons dangereuses (1782); cf. note to p. 205.
La Nouvelle Héloïse: celebrated romance (1761) by Rousseau, told in the form of letters; cf. note to p. 198.
Jan: the painter and writer Laurent Jan (1809-77) was a good friend of Balzac’s.
July celebrations: festivities to commemorate the three days of the 1830 revolution, 27, 28, and 29 July.
July festivities: cf. note to p. 293.
Charter of 1830: when Louis XVIII was restored to the French throne in 1814, he granted a charter which, amongst other things, provided for freedom of the press. Ordinances issued by Charles X in 1830 violated the 1814 Charter by abolishing that freedom. This led to the revolution of July 1830, which forced Charles X to abdicate and established Louis-Philippe as a constitutional monarch. A charter voted by the Chamber of Deputies and accepted by the King replaced the Charter of 1814.
Gros-René: Gros-René is a servant in Molière’s play Le Dépit amoureux, but the phrase is in fact used by the servant Alain in L’École des femmes (11, iii).
Carême: (1784-1833), celebrated French chef, who worked for many distinguished and royal personalities.
Marchesa de Pescara: Vittoria Colonna (1490-1547), daughter of the High Constable of the Kingdom of Naples, married the Marquis de Pescara, who contributed greatly to the victory at the battle of Pavia but died as a result of his wounds in 1535. Though gifted, beautiful, and much courted, she devoted the rest of her life to her husband’s memory.
Diane de Poitiers: cf. note to p. 27.
Maecenases: Maecenas was a celebrated patron of the arts in Rome at the time of the Emperor Augustus. His name has come to mean a wealthy supporter of literature and the arts.
Danaïdes: in classical mythology, the fifty daughters of Danaüs. On their wedding nights all but one killed their husbands. As punishment they were condemned to fill a bottomless cask with water.
Saint Lawrence: (d.258), one of the most venerated Christian martyrs, celebrated for his Christian valour. It is reported that he was roasted to death on a gridiron.
Dubois when he kicked the Regent three times: it is said that the Regent (Philippe, Duc d’Orléans, Regent during the minority of Louis XV, 1715-23) disguised himself one day as the servant of the Abbé Dubois (his former tutor, who rose to be an archbishop, cardinal, and minister), who took advantage of the situation to kick his master three times.
Charter: cf. note to p. 306.
‘God of the Jews, you prevail!’: from Racine’s play Athalie (v. vi. 1768).
Golden Calf: cf. note to p. 17.
Maréchal de Richelieu: cf. note to p. 124.
Egeria: the nymph Egeria, legendary advisor to Numa Pom-pilius, second King of Rome.
our present distinguished minister: Guizot, an important minister in the reign of Louis-Philippe, was closely linked to the Princesse de Lieven, widow of the Russian ambassador to London; she was his constant adviser in political matters.
Cumaean Sibyl: most famous of the Sibyls (prophetesses), she was consulted by Aeneas before he descended into the underworld.
Another guitar: this title is taken from one of Victor Hugo’s poems.
Lovelace: cf. note to p. 223.
Edmé Champion: (1764-1852), an orphan supported by charity, who became a rich jeweller and vowed to devote himself to the relief of poverty in Paris. Dressed in a blue cloak, he distributed soup and clothing to the poor.
Montyon: cf. note to p. 167.
in fiocchi: Italian phrase meaning ‘in full dress’.
Marshal Masséna: (1756-1817), one of Napoleon’s outstanding military commanders.
Arcola: the taking of the bridge at Arcola was one of Bonaparte’s achievements in his victory against the Austrians in 1796.
Kaiserlichs: name given by Napoleon’s soldiers to the Austrian soldiers.
go to Neuilly: i.e. to see the King, who had a favourite residence at Neuilly.
rival of Bernadotte’s: Charles Bernadotte (1764-1844), Marshal of France with a distinguished career in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. He was adopted by the King of Sweden in 1810 and became King of Sweden in 1818.
a piece of Crown property: the Chamber of Deputies had raised objections to the 18 million francs proposed for the King’s civil list, reducing it to 12 million. The Chamber also refused to give the château and estate of Rambouillet (bought by Louis XV, who joined it to the property of the Crown) to Louis-Philippe’s son, the Duc de Nemours.
Treasury official: there had been a considerable scandal when a Treasury official named Mathéo absconded with 1,800,000 francs. In another notorious case an official of the Bank of France, Kessner, embezzled 4,500,000 francs.
Béresina: in 1812 Napoleon’s army, in retreat after the failure of his campaign against Russia, suffered tragic losses in the crossing of this river.
Sganarelle: a name frequently given to stupid or malicious lower-class characters in French comedy, particularly in Molière’s plays, e.g. in Le Médecin malgré lui.
‘The Paris news item … thinks’: a parody of a line from Voltaire’s play Oedipe (iv. i): ‘Nos prêtres ne sont pas ce qu’un vain peuple pense: / Notre crédulité fait toute leur science’ (Our priests are not what a foolish people thinks: / It is our credulity which constitutes all their learning).
Les Chouans: the first novel Balzac published under his own name (1829). In it Hulot plays an important part as a leader of the Republican armies which suppressed a Royalist rising in Brittany.
Vandamme: General Vandamme had been captured by the Russians in 1813 and imprisoned at Wintka on the Siberian border. He returned to France in September 1814.
Condé: the Prince de Condé (1621-86) was a distinguished military commander in the reign of Louis XIV and responsible for many of the great French victories of that period.
Neuilly: cf. note to p. 333.
Chouan uprising: the uprising in Brittany which is the theme of Balzac’s novel Les Chouans; cf. note to p. 343.
Madame: the eldest son of the King of France was known as ‘Monsieur’, his wife as ‘Madame’. In 1832 ‘Madame’ was the Duchesse de Berry, who made an abortive attempt to recapture the French monarchy for the family of Charles X, who had been deposed by the revolution of 1830.
Gourville: (1625-1703), condemned for having embezzled state funds when a tax official in Guienne (one of the old provinces of France of which Bordeaux was the capital). He had been a lover of Ninon de Lenclos (cf. note to p. 27) and was saved by her.
Sardanapalus: a legendary debauched king of Assyria, supposed to have reigned from 836 to 817 BC. He was the theme of a play by Byron (1821).
C’est Vénus tout entièreàsa proie attachée: a celebrated line from Racine’s tragedy Phèdre (1. iii). (It is Venus with all her might gripping her prey.)
Schontz: in Balzac’s novel Béatrix, madame Schontz is a courtesan whose lover is the Marquis de Rochefide.
Fénélon: cf. note to p. 228.
Ourcq water: the Ourcq is a French river linked to the Seine by a canal. Its waters were used to increase the supply of water to the public fountains in Paris. Water from the Seine was carried by water-carriers to individual houses and was much more expensive.
Ambigu-Comique: a Paris theatre.
thirteenth district: cf. note to p. 17.
Mabille: a popular public dance-hall founded by a dancing-master called Mabille.
d’Aiglemont: in Balzac’s story La Maison Nucingen, the Marquis d’Aiglemont is one of the victims of Baron Nucingen’s shady financial dealings.
Bartholo: the jealous guardian of the heroine in Beaumarchais’s play The Barber of Seville, which formed the basis of Rossini’s opera of that name.
the Augustes, the Hippolytes, the Nestors, the Victors: these four men’s names are representative of the different types of men who might tempt Olympe away from Hulot. Augustus was a powerful Roman Emperor; Hippolytus a handsome young man whose stepmother Phaedra fell in love with him (the theme of Racine’s tragedy Phèdre); Nestor the oldest prince at the siege of Troy, renowned for his wisdom; and Victor means conqueror.
ors: the word or in French means gold, and Josépha is making a pun linked to the final syllable of the last two names mentioned.
happy: in view of the word ‘unhappy’ in the following line, it sems likely that this is an oversight on Balzac’s part or a misprint, and that the correct reading should be ‘unhappy’.
Marlborough: a reference to the well-known French popular song which starts ‘Malbrouk s’en va-t-en guerre / Ne sais quand reviendra’ (Malbrouk is off to the war, I don’t know when he’ll come back).
Misfortune’s noble victim: this comes from Sacchini’s opera Oedipus at Colonna (1787), performed at the first public appearance of King Louis XVIII and his family after the Restoration; this line addressed to the King aroused great public enthusiasm.
Boule: cf. note to p. 123.
Joseph Bridau: an artist who appears in many Balzac novels and is a main character in La Rabouilleuse.
Malibran: (1808-36), the most famous singer of her day.
Allori: (1577-1621). His painting Judith and Holofernes is in the Pitti Palace in Florence.
Bronzino’s nephew: Allori was in fact the great-nephew of the Florentine painter Bronzino (1502-72).
Matilda: a character in Rossini’s opera William Tell (1829). Cf. note to p. 44).
La Chaumière: cf. note to p. 75.
Funambules: Parisian theatre presenting popular entertainment programmes.
cock: this is a pun on the French word poule, which means (1) hen; (2) prostitute; (3) pool at billiards.
Melun: the central prison at Melun.
Marat: (1743-93), Revolutionary leader, responsible for some of the worst excesses of the French Revolution, assassinated in his bath by Charlotte Corday.
Faubourg Saint-Germain: district of Paris where the old aristocracy lived.
Fouché: Joseph Fouché (1759-1820), four times Minister of Police between 1799 and 1815.
Lenoir: Jean Lenoir (1732-1807), twice Lieutenant-General of Police.
Sartines: Antoine Sartinez (1729-1801), immediate predecessor of Lenoir as Lieutenant-General of Police.
the Moor of Rio de Janeiro: the full title of Shakespeare’s play is Othello, the Moor of Venice.
Aspasia: celebrated for her beauty and wit, she was the mistress and virtual wife of the Athenian leader Pericles.
Lucretia: wife of Tarquinius Collatinus who was raped by her husband’s cousin Sextus, son of the King of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus. After telling her husband, she committed suicide. This incident led to the overthrow of the ruling Tarquin family and the establishment of the Roman Republic.
Boule: cf. note to p. 123.
Vautrin: an important recurring character in La Comédie humaine. He is an escaped convict of consummate ability who finally becomes chief of police.
Countess Pimbèche: a character in Racine’s comedy Les Plaideurs, a typical inveterate litigant.
Combabus, the voluntary Abélard: Combabus, favourite of Antiochus I, King of Syria, castrated himself for fear that he would not be able to resist the attractions of the King’s wife, Stratonice. The medieval French scholar Abélard was forcibly castrated by the uncle of Héloise, whom he had secretly married.
Bocage … d’Anville: the geographer Jean-Baptiste Bouguignon d’Anville (1697-1782) had drawn the maps for the Ancient History published from 1730 to 1738 in 13 volumes by Charles Rollin (1661-1741). Jean-Denis Barbié du Bocage (1760-1825) was d’Anville’s only pupil.
Monty on prize: cf. note to p. 167.
Catoxantha: a rare kind of beetle.
Amphitryon: in Greek mythology, a Theban prince whose wife, having been visited by Zeus in the form of her husband, gave birth to Hercules. Molière wrote a play based on this theme and by reference to his play the name has come to mean a host.
Longchamps: race-course and review ground in the Bois de Boulogne to the west of Paris.
Valognes: a small town in Normandy which produces butter, poultry, cattle, and lace.
Cydalise: a fashionable name in French literary circles in the 1830s. It was the name of a young woman who died prematurely and whose beautiful white skin was praised in a sonnet by the poet Théophile Gautier.
shibboleth: a word used as a password by the Gileadites under Jephthah during their war with the Ephraimites, as recounted in Judges 12.6. It comes to be used as a sign of recognition between members of a particular group or party.
the horrible dessert of the month of April: this could refer to the fact that no fresh fruits were available in April and that the dessert consisted of dried fruits and nuts.
Clichy: Parisian debtors’ prison.
Madame de la Baudraye: principal character in Balzac’s novel La Muse du Département. After she had given up everything for Lousteau, she left him because of his dissolute behaviour.
François I: King of France from 1515 to 1547.
Médor: a character in Ariosto’s poem Orlando Furioso (1516), whose name became typical of faithful love and devotion. It thus became a very common name for dogs, hence the ‘growl’.
King of Holland: William of Nassau, whose obstinacy resulted in the loss of Belgium in 1830.
Maison d’Or: a restaurant, new in 1840, which became very fashionable.
Longjumeau postilion: a reference to a light opera of 1836 by A. Adam which contained the lines: ‘Oh! oh! oh! oh! Qu’il était beau, / Le postillon de Longjumeau!’ (How handsome he was, the Longjumeau postilion!)
Roland in a fury: a reference to Ariosto’s poem Orlando Furioso (1516).
Mignard: (1606-68), French painter.
Girodet: (1767-1824), French painter celebrated for his bright colouring.
urbi et orbi: a Latin expression meaning ‘to the city and to the world’, normally used with reference to Papal proclamations.
Vulcan’s nets: in classical mythology, Vulcan, the husband of Venus, surprised her with Mars and trapped them both in nets before summoning the other gods.
Gavarni: (1804-66), lithographer and caricaturist, celebrated for his sketches of Parisian life and witty captions.
Baron d’Holbach: (1723-89), distinguished French atheistic philosopher.
Regency: cf. note to p. 11.
grey Musketeer: nobleman from one of the two companies of the king’s household cavalry. They were distinguished by the colour of their horses, grey and black.
Abbé Dubois: (1656-1723), minister during the Regency.
Maréchal de Richelieu: cf. note to p. 124.
Béranger: (1789-1857), celebrated writer of popular poems and songs.
Lisette: typical working-girl featured in Béranger’s poems.
Montesquieu: (1689-1755), distinguished French thinker and writer. According to Voltaire, Montesquieu on his deathbed dismissed a Jesuit priest who wanted him to give up all his papers so that irreligious passages could be deleted.
That slave, he came / His order showed, but nothing gained: a quotation from Racine’s play Bajazet (1. 1).
The Passage Montesquieu: this alley-way no longer exists, it led into the Rue Montesquieu.
Champcenetz: (1760-94), Royalist guards officer, wit, and journalist, guillotined in 1794.
Atala … the first one: the first one was the heroine of the well-known novel of that name by Chateaubriand (1768-1848). She was a N. American Indian convert to Christianity who refused to marry the man she loved because she had promised her mother to become a nun. Too weak to fulfil the vow, and unable to resist her love, she took poison and died.
Bobino: Parisian theatre frequented by students and working-girls.
Ambigu: seats at the Ambigu theatre cost from 40 centimes to 5 francs, those at Bobino cost from 30 centimes to 1.25 francs. Hence Atala’s ‘perhaps’.
in partibus: the phrase was used of a bishop who had the title but no diocese. Here it describes a man who is called an artist but never really practises as such.